This project is to develop the human resources and technological infrastructure for the State of Nebraska in the area of Functional Genomics through the formation of a statewide network of cooperating undergraduate and graduate institutions. Multidisciplinary research teams, consisting of faculty members and students, will be developed at five participating undergraduate institutions. The BRIN project will support faculty research on these campuses by providing release time from teaching commitments, through the purchase of essential equipment, and by providing funds for research supplies. Undergraduate students will be supported through the development of a BRIN Scholars program designed to involve them in biomedical research early in their academic careers. Access to the enriched biomedical research experience will be through the TMC at the graduate institutions. BRIN Scholars will spend one summer at a graduate institution participating in an eight-week Research Foundations Workshop designed to introduce them to research tools used in the areas of bioinformatics and functional genomics. Upon returning to their undergraduate institutions, scholars will participate in supervised research projects under the supervision of BRIN-supported faculty members. The scholars will return to the graduate institutions for a second summer to work in the laboratories of well-established faculty mentors on each campus. Each scholar will prepare a "Senior Thesis" or other written report and present the results of their research at an annual BRIN Symposium held in conjunction with the meeting of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences. BRIN scholars who pursue advanced degrees at one of the graduate institutions will be provided with full fellowships for the duration of their graduate studies. The BRIN project will also support the further development of cutting-edge core laboratories at the graduate institutions. The BC will provide training, service in, and access to all aspects of bioinformatics including: 1) computing services and electronic networking, 2) genetic sequence analysis, 3) molecular modeling, 4) database mining, and 4) information retrieval associated with the Libraries of Medicine. The BRIN project will support the SFGC and SGPC. These facilities will provide training and service to participants in the BRIN project as well as investigators supported on COBRE projects. BRIN support of these centralized facilities, in the form of provision of advanced equipment, and salary support for scientific and technical personnel and supplies will help ensure their availability to BRIN Scholars, as well as investigators at all academic institutions through the State of Nebraska.